


Rainfall

by curlsandcrown



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: College, F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-02
Updated: 2017-12-10
Packaged: 2019-02-09 19:36:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12895224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/curlsandcrown/pseuds/curlsandcrown
Summary: Betty was sure that Cheryl Blossom was the most dramatic person she had ever met, but sometimes Jughead gave her a run for her money.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: I can’t see anything. / It’s just rain, you aren’t gonna melt!

Betty was sure that Cheryl Blossom was the most dramatic person she had ever met, but sometimes Jughead gave her a run for her money. Typically he was rational and didn’t let his emotions get in the way of his actions, thinking before he acted and at least trying to keep the rest of them from doing something dangerous. (Disregarding his time as a Serpent, of course, and investigating murders with her, but those were under different circumstances.) He was always the one to calm her racing thoughts and help her from going off the deep end, but there were some things that caused him to become more stressed than she had ever seen since knowing him.

She discovered his slight fear of rain while they were college. They were in her dorm room, cuddled in the twin size bed, and it was nearing curfew time. At 11 o’clock, any males in the dorm had to leave and she could tell as it got closer to that time, that he was beginning to tense up.

“Jug, what’s wrong?” She questioned, lifting her head off of his arm and looking at him curiously. He immediately shook his head, opting to let the movement be his answer rather than words. “You just seem really tense all of a sudden.”

Betty moved her head back onto his arm and closed her eyes for a moment, content in letting that be the end of the discussion. But then a loud crack of thunder sounded outside of her window and he jumped slightly, causing her to open her eyes again.

She studied his face, taking in the slightly furrowed brow, but otherwise, there was no indication that he even knew he had just jumped. So, again, she closed her eyes and settled back down in his arms.

His arms tightened around her waist and she sighed softly, pressing a kiss to his jaw.

“You have to go soon,” she said a few minutes later, disappointment evident in her voice. One day soon they would be graduating and getting a place of their own, but until then, they had to be satisfied with the times they had in their dorm rooms or on the weekends when they both stayed at Archie and Veronica’s apartment off campus.

It was still raining outside, but the storm had calmed down and now the only sounds from it was the soft pattering of rain against the side of the building.

Finally sitting up to check the time, Betty pulled gently at his arm and coaxed Jughead up into a seated position. He looked to be just as relaxed as he had when they first laid down, so she brushed off his earlier tension. Thunder was loud and could disturb anyone.

“You sure I have to go?” He asked as he leaned forward and tilted her head back with a finger on her chin. “We could call Archie and see what they’re doing tonight.” He was practically whispering now and it caused a shiver to run down her spine at just the thought of what he had in mind.

“You know I have a test tomorrow,” she whispered back to him before pressing forward and catching his lips with her own. The kiss only lasted a few moments before Jughead was pulling away and reluctantly getting up off the bed.

“This weekend, then,” he said, walking over to her closet and grabbing his jacket from the hook on the door.

Betty hummed in agreement, pushing herself off the bed and making her way over to him while putting her hair back up in its ponytail. As soon as he was out the door, she needed to get some last minute studying done before going to bed. And, as much as she would have loved to go to Archie and Veronica’s with him right then and there, her test the next day was a bit more important for her grades.

Jughead looked at her, defeated, and finally walked to the door. She followed him and rubbed one of his arms, lifting up to kiss him again.

“I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon and we can make our weekend plans,” she promised softly against his lips, nipping his bottom lip and dragging a groan out of him. “Love you.”

“Love you, too,” he said with an overly dramatic sigh, pulling open the door and stepping into the hallway. He immediately turned around and gave her a pair of puppy dog eyes that she had _never_ seen from him in their entire friendship or relationship.

“What?” Betty asked with a loud laugh.

Jughead shifted from foot to foot a couple of times before looking at her with a serious expression.

“It’s pouring outside,” he said finally, and she grabbed her key before pulling the door closed and walking with him to the front entrance of the building.

It was barely raining anymore from Betty’s perspective, but Jughead just pulled his beanie out of his jacket pocket and pulled it onto his head.

“I can’t see anything,” he deadpanned.

“That’s because it’s dark,” she replied in the same tone. “It’s just rain, you won’t melt!” Betty exclaimed, pushing him gently and laughing softly. The woman sitting at the front desk rolled her eyes at them. Betty figured she had heard this kind of conversation between a girl in the dorms and her boyfriend before.

There was a look in Jughead’s eyes that she’d only seen a few times before, one of genuine nervousness, but there wasn’t anything that she could do. It was either leave before curfew or they’d both be given some sort of punishment for breaking the rules.

“Jug, I’ll see you tomorrow.” She shrugged her shoulders at him and he stepped forward to wrap his arms around her. “Text me when you get to your room.”

With a final squeeze and a quick kiss on her lips, he finally stepped out into the rain.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” he finally said, defeated but knowing that they had no other choice. Plus, his dorm was only about a five-minute walk across the campus. Most of the buildings between the two had awnings that he could walk under anyway.

“Bye.” Betty waved at him, smiling when he sent her a wave and a smile of his own. As soon as he was out of her sight, she went back to her room and settled down to study some more.

* * *

 

The next morning, Betty was on her way to take her test when she received a text from Jughead.

**My hat is still soaking wet.**

She stifled a laugh as she walked into the classroom and sat down at her table, typing up a quick response.

**That crown makes more sense now, drama king.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It wasn’t often that he thought about his time living alone as a teenager, especially now as an adult living with Betty, but a bad storm always brought out the worst of his subconscious. 
> 
> In which Jughead has a bad dream about rain and Betty is there to help him confront it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There was a comment on Rainfall asking for more about Jughead's fear of rain and I love the way this came out. Thanks for wanting more, theladylabyrinth!
> 
> Warnings: descriptions of anxiety, mentions of therapy, and fluff

_Rain pelted the roof of the drive-in, causing Jughead to clutch his blanket with trembling hands. He hated the rain. It had never exactly been his favorite thing in the world, but there was something almost sinister about the sounds of a storm while he was alone at the Twilight Drive-in. The wind blew harshly and he was sure that at any second, one of the movie screens would come crashing down on top of him. The thought alone had him scrambling up onto his feet, dropping the blanket to the makeshift bed and stumbling over to the light in the corner. Turning it on, he heaved out a sigh of relief. At least the lights were still working. It was a small comfort, but enough to make him go back to the bed and lay back down. Closing his eyes, he tried to regulate his breathing. One, two, three, in. One, two, three, out. And again and again._

_He was just drifting off again when the wind picked up and suddenly a loud crack of thunder had him jumping out of bed again, crashing to the floor with a loud thump._

Jughead sat up in bed, his breath caught in his throat as he looked around the familiar room. It wasn’t often that he thought about his time living alone as a teenager, especially now as an adult living with Betty, but a bad storm always brought out the worst of his subconscious.

Heaving a sigh, he turned his body to sit on the side of the bed. He took a few moments to run his hand over his face and his hair, groaning at the slight sweat coating his hair. Betty wasn’t in the bed, and the alarm clock wasn’t showing him the time, so he was sure she was getting their emergency kit. That had been one of the first things she had put together once he admitted his issues with rain. The thought sent a small smile to his lips and he pushed himself out of the bed, slipping his feet into his slippers, and heading out of the bedroom.  

Betty was in the kitchen lighting a candle when he found her and he walked over, wrapping his arms gently around her waist.

“I found the candles,” she said quietly. “We’ll be alright.”

He nodded against her shoulder and dropped a kiss to the side of her neck. He liked to think he was dependable in most situations, but she always took care of them - him - in situations like this.

“Thanks,” he mumbled against her skin, relishing in the feel of her warm between his arms. “I’ll make some hot chocolate. Thankfully we have a gas stove.”

Pulling away from her, he didn’t miss the look of concentration on her face. It was obvious that she was coming up with a plan for something, but he decided to ignore it as he grabbed a pot, filled it with water, and went over to the stove and turned on one of the burners.

“Grab the mugs, will you?” He asked her while he searched through the cabinet looking for the sachets of hot chocolate mix. The light from the candles was dim, but just enough to make out the white paper. Grabbing two, he shook them and opened them both in one action.

When he looked back at Betty, she was just standing there with a small smile on her lips.

“I have an idea.”

He lifted an eyebrow and nodded.

“Yeah, I could tell by that look on your face.”

Betty walked over to him, taking the hot chocolate from him and setting it on the countertop.

“You need a happy memory of rain, Jug.” She looked at him with this soft look on her face and, even though he should have been protesting, he found himself letting her take his hand.

She led him to the back door and unlocked it quickly, opening it and pulling him out onto the porch. The rain wasn’t too bad now, but he still breathed in quickly through his nose.

“What kind of happy memory are we making here? It’s not exactly happy to look into this tsunami.”

He saw her roll her eyes before turning her head to look at him.

“We’re going out there, together.”

“Why we would do that, Betty?” Maybe his brain was still suffering from sleep, but that made no sense to him. There was nothing happy about that.

“You’ll see,” she said simply, stepping down onto the front step and looking back at him expectantly. “You don’t have to, but I think it will help. Exposure is the only way you’ll start to feel better about it.”

Exposure therapy was something she had discussed with him before, for both of their fears, hers of being out of control and his of rain, but it was the first time she’d ever suggested he actually go out into the rain to experience it.

He shook his head even as he squeezed her hand and took a deep, shuddering breath.

“It will be fine,” Betty said gently, moving into the rain fully. He wanted to go back in to get her either a towel or an umbrella as the rain soaked through the shirt she was wearing.

“You’re going to freeze,” he said quietly and stepped down the steps and into the rain with her. The first drop of rain hitting him had him shivering, but then Betty was wrapping her arms around him and looking up into his eyes.

“It’s not so bad.” Drops of rain were dripping down her face, clinging to her eyelashes, and beading on her lips. But then she was pushing herself up and pressing her wet lips to his and there was nothing that could stop him from kissing her back. Even the freezing rain.

Once they pulled back, Betty with a dazed look and him with flushed cheeks, he couldn’t help but say, “We could get struck by lightning, but you want to kiss in the rain.”

A loud laugh escaped from Betty’s lips as she nodded and pressed another quick kiss to his lips.

“Okay, that’s enough for today. I’m freezing.”

The water was boiling on the stove when they stepped back into the kitchen and he grabbed two mugs quickly before pouring their hot chocolate and mixing it up. They were both soaking wet and shivering as they took their mugs and huddled together for a few minutes for warmth and to drink a bit of their drinks.

“Let’s go take a bath,” Betty said with a large smile up at him.

“ _That’s_ the best idea you’ve had tonight.”

She sent him a look that meant she knew he was just joking and led him to the bathroom where they spent the better part of an hour submerged in warm water full of bubbles while drinking their hot chocolate in the candlelight.

He wasn’t sure that he would ever be completely over this fear of heavy rain, but with Betty Cooper, he knew he could get through any difficult nights.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompts: I found the candles, we’ll be alright. / We could get struck by lightning, but you want to kiss in the rain.
> 
> Written by R.
> 
> J + R

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Written by R. 
> 
> Send us some requests! :D 
> 
> J + R


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